The concept of sobriety digital is maybe going to become more trend, with the roadmap on the environment submitted by the National Digital Council (CNNum), which clearly evokes the need to move towards a “digital sober, environmentally responsible and supportive”. For this, several concrete measures are possible, including a proposal on Internet plans unlimited, which is under the fire of criticism.
The end of the universal Internet?
The national digital Council has attempted to control the debate, and accurate in a statement that the purpose of this measure is not to question internet packages fixed unlimited and their pricing, the pillars of access to a digital service universal, nor to prevent the development of digital uses. Even more than during the health crisis, the critical importance of accessibility to digital educational continuity, telemedicine, and telecommuting has become more evident than ever.
But, according to the CNNum, this does not prevent the citizens to have the means to reflect on the impact of its digital uses and, more concretely, by controlling the services offered and used in the framework of the Internet access package.
What are these “packages green”?
Without deleting those that exist today, the CNNum proposes to create packages “eco friendly”, appropriate for those who can and wish to consume a little less, are conscious of their environmental footprint or even want to master their uses.
The idea would be simply to encourage the packages to limited consumption”. But attention: depending on the platform, Green IT , this proposal is very symbolic , and does not bring anything new. There are already today of the packages so-called “naked”, which does not include the phone with a few purchase options data. Green IT also reminds us that the biggest impact of the digital is not about the data. According to the study #iNUM, 3/4 impacts in France are indeed related to the manufacture of terminal users. Focus on the energy consumption of data over the network, so it is not tackling the heart of the problem.
Sobriety digital would rather the repair and recycling
Even if the proposal related to the packages has been the most controversial, of the others, who have gone unnoticed, are more interesting, and could prove to be essential to reduce our digital footprint.
This is the case, for example, of the proposal concerning the support to the sectors of repair and remanufacturing, which would reduce our waste, to digital, to ensure a re-use quality for the consumer and increasing the collection rate.
To reduce the renewal of user terminals, it is necessary to strengthen the life of the equipment digital and to fight against the planned obsolescence.
The eco-design of digital services would reduce the impact of current services and limit the risk of saturation. Finally, provide training in responsible digital could make France the number one country in the encounter between the digital and the environment.
Author(s): FranceSoir
